Western Mustangs Defeat Lakehead Thunderwolves 3-0

London, ON – The Mustangs took on the Lakehead Thunderwolves today at Alumni Hall in front of a packed crowd. Today’s school day game saw children from various schools around London attend the game in support of the Mustangs. The Mustangs went on to dominate the game, winning it in three straight sets. 
 
A double block from Western puts them on the scoreboard first. They push ahead in the points. A ball sent long by Lakehead puts the Mustangs five points ahead. A timeout is called when the Mustangs push six points ahead. Lakehead wins the opening point coming out of timeout. Lakehead are able to decrease the point gap to two coming up towards the middle of the first set. Devin Gerth gets a kill that puts the Mustangs further ahead in the points. When the Mustangs push back five points ahead, a timeout is called. Like the first timeout, Lakehead win the opening point coming out of the timeout. Gerth puts the team within five points of the set win. A kill from Lakehead finds the left-hand side of the court but a long serve from Lakehead brings the team within four points of the set win. A timeout is called when the score sits at 21-20 to Western. Coming out of the timeout, Western win the opening point with the ball finding an empty spot. A block from Western wins the opening set 25-21. 
 
Western take an early lead in the second set. Lakehead equalise at 3-3 and a block from them puts them ahead in the points. A long serve from Lakehead equalizes the score for the Mustangs. The teams trade service errors early in the second set. Lael Harrison pushes the Mustangs three ahead making a 10-7 score. Ava Ebert puts the score at 11-9 to the Mustangs and goes to serve. She gets a service ace, putting the team three ahead in the points. Devin Gerth finds some speed in the middle of the set, putting a kill in the far left corner of the court. A block from Claire Stewart adds another to the scoreboard, putting the Mustangs three ahead. A timeout is called when the Mustangs push four ahead in the point. Lael Harrison tips the ball over the net where it is mishandled by Lakehead and goes out of bounds. As the Mustangs come within five points of the second set win, a timeout is called. Lakehead win the opening point coming out of the timeout. Lael Harrison puts another point of the scoreboard for Western with a kill that Lakehead are unable to return. Ava Ebert goes on to tip the ball over the net to bring the team within three points of the set win. Devin Gerth closes the point gap to the win to two. Lael Harrison wins the second set for the Mustangs with a kill. Final score is 25-16. 
 
Western win the opening point of the third set after a ball is mishandled by Lakehead. A service ace from Claire Stewart puts the Mustangs two ahead. The Mustangs equalise after finding an empty spot in the far-left corner of the court making the score 4-4. Lakehead pushes ahead by two. A ball tipped over the net by Devin Gerth closes the point gap to one. Despite Lakehead maintaining a point lead, Western maintain the pressure. A service ace from Lakehead puts them four ahead in points. A timeout is called when the teams equalise. the Mustangs push ahead in the points. Timeout is called when the Mustangs push three points ahead of Lakehead. A service ace from Lael Harrison puts the team within five points. After a huge dig from Kaitlyn Doyle, Ava Ebert gets a kill, putting the team within four of the set win. A block from Ava Ebert puts the team within one point of the set win. A ball goes out of bounds from Lakehead which gives the Mustangs the final set win with a score of 25-15. 
 
Melissa Bartlett notes after the game “a lot of credit to the crowd and playing in that type of environment which we haven’t been able to do in years – the girls were super excited and we could feel, it was palpable the energy and we really fed off that to start and then I think we just got more and more confident in our game plan as the match went on. We were in more control as the match went on”. She went on to add “three matches in four days – rarely do we do that. So, we are able to rely on some of our depth – we started a couple different athletes today than we did Wednesday and that’s what’s nice, that we are able to do that and continue to rely on that depth in our line-up tomorrow but also just mentally staying sharp is just really, really important. Lakehead is a very gritty team and they played really aggressive so, it’s a good challenge for our style. We have to be really smart and manage our errors”. Outside Hitter Robin Henshaw also added that “it was so exciting. This was our first school day that we’ve done in a really long time and it totally changes the energy. It feels so positive. It’s just such a confidence boost to have the kids in the crowd. We’re really lucky, we have the opportunity to meet a lot of them – we do a lot of camps with the kids during the year so some of them have met us before and I think that’s really exciting for them”. On looking ahead to tomorrow, Henshaw explained that “for sure, if Lakehead is going to be coming back with some more energy – they definitely play all out whether or not they’re winning and so it’s an exciting team to play and hopefully we’ll be able to bring that energy without the kids in the crowd!”.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 6:00pm.